No. 12 California races past Maryland 52-13

BERKELEY, Calif.(AP) -- Jahvid Best was on the wrong end of the
highlight film last year against Maryland, seen on his knees
vomiting following a hard hit from a Terrapins defender.

Best was back in his usual role in the rematch, finishing off a
long run to the end zone as California turned the tables on
Maryland.

Best ran 73 yards for one of his two first-quarter touchdowns
and the 12th-ranked Golden Bears avenged an early-season loss to
the Terrapins last season with a 52-13 victory Saturday night to
open this season.

"Last year we went down there and we felt like we didn't play
Cal football," Best said. "We wanted them to know what Cal
football was all about. We wanted to jump on them early."

Kevin Riley added a career-high four touchdown passes for the
Bears, who avenged last year's 35-27 loss. Cal finished with 542
yards of offense and got touchdowns from five players.

"Everybody got involved in the action today which was good to
see," coach Jeff Tedford said.

This was quite a contrast to last year's game. That game was
played in East Coast humidity with a noon start and the Cal
players looked half asleep at the start, falling behind 21-3
early in the second quarter and never recovering. This year, it
was the Maryland players who had to adjust to the time change
with a game that started just after 7 p.m. PDT.

The Terps never did and had their most lopsided season-opening
loss since the first game in school history, a 50-0 loss to St.
John's of Annapolis in 1892.

"These guys are learning on the run," Maryland coach Ralph
Friedgen said of his inexperienced team. "We have got to make it
as best as we can. I told them in the locker room, we have to
look at this game and learn from it."

Best heard quite a bit about last year's game leading up to the
rematch, most notably the hit by Maryland cornerback Kevin
Barnes that became an instant YouTube classic. Best said he's
watched the hit a handful of times since then and usually laughs
when he sees it.

"It's rare to see somebody do that so it's kind of funny," he
said.

Best made his own highlight reel in this game, starting with the
long touchdown run that opened the scoring. On the first play of
Cal's second possession, Best burst up the middle and broke away
from the Maryland defense. He slowed up at the 25 to wait for a
block by Verran Tucker on defensive back Nolan Carroll, before
finishing off his ninth career run of at least 60 yards.

It's those kinds of runs that have made Best a trendy Heisman
contender and the Bears a team to be reckoned with in the
Pac-10. Best finished with 137 yards on 10 carries, including a
40-yarder that was sprung by a block from Riley.

But it's the passing game that will probably determine how far
Cal goes this season. Riley completed 17 of 26 passes for 298
yards, including a 42-yarder that dropped right into Marvin
Jones' hands in the end zone to make it 45-6. He also threw TD
passes to Nyan Boateng, Skyler Curran and Shane Vareen.

"Everybody knows we can run the ball," Riley said. "A lot of
close games are going to come down to if we can make plays in
the passing game. Tonight we did some good things."

Riley's first completion was a 20-yard strike to Jones that came
after Torrey Smith fumbled the kickoff following Best's first
TD. Best leaped in from the 2 on the following play for his
second score in a 42-second span.

That was Riley's only completion in five attempts in the first
quarter. But he found his stride in the second, connecting on a
39-yard pass to Tucker that set up a 3-yard TD pass to Curran
that came after Riley avoided a sack by Jared Harrell.

Riley then stepped up in the pocket and found a wide-open
Boateng on a 39-yard pass in the final minute of the half to
give the Bears a 31-6 lead.

Maryland was supposed to be the team with the pressure defense
after bringing in coordinator Dan Brown and his blitzing
schemes. But the Bears had no problems moving the ball, getting
big plays on the ground and through the air.

It was Cal that constantly pressured Chris Turner, sacking him
six times and keeping the Terps out of the end zone until Da'Rel
Scott's 39-yard run made it 45-13 midway through the third
quarter.

"Cal has one of the best defensive fronts we'll see all year, so
it was a good test for our o-line," Turner said. "We're not
trying to make excuses but we have to make corrections."